1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for cleaning a pipe passage such as a forceps channel in an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
An endoscope is usually inserted into a cavity of a human body to check or treat some intended parts in the body cavity. The common endoscope has therein the forceps channel through which treating tools such as the forceps are introduced into the body cavity. This causes the blood and dirty matters of a patient to often enter into the forceps channel of the endoscope when some intended parts in the body cavity are checked or treated by the endoscope.
In order to protect other patients from infectious disease, therefore, the forceps channel in the endoscope which was once used for a patient and contaminated with blood and dirty matters must be cleaned.
A well-known cleaning brush is conventionally used to clean the pipe passage such as the forceps channel in the endoscope.
In order to fully clean the pipe passage in the endoscope, dirty matters stuck and hardened on the inner wall of the pipe passage,. must be removed. It is however difficult to fully remove the dirty matter from the pipe passage only by use of a conventional cleaning brush. A device capable of more reliably cleaning the pipe passage than the conventional cleaning brush is accordingly required.